A company has developed a new system to get rid of the "eternal chemicals". The trick: bubbles

One of the main sources of pollution in the world are the so-called PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are nicknamed “forever chemicals,” a nickname that tells us why: it is really difficult to get rid of them.

New company. Now a Swiss company want to extend a new method to search for and destroy these substances. Oxyle, as the company is called, was born in 2020 to eliminate micropollutants and has already begun to implement its new technology.

Hard to peel. The substances perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated are a group of molecules that encompasses about 4,700 synthetic chemical agents, according to data of the European Environment Agency. Its resistance is due to the fact that its structure is based on the union between fluorine and carbon atoms.

This molecular union is very stable, that is, it does not react to external agents, which means that the molecules do not decompose by natural processes. This implies that these agents are highly valued when manufacturing non-stick objects. This has led them to a multitude of contexts: frying pans, food packaging, batteries…

Absorb, separate, destroy. PFAS end up leached into the water, and cleaning them up is tedious and expensive. The first step is to absorb them. For this purpose, granular activated carbon is usually used, a classic in water purification. The problem with these substances is that, if we do not treat this carbon, the polluting molecules will end up filtering back into the water through soils and rivers.

Until now, one of the main methods to get rid of these chemical agents was incineration. However, this process is expensive in terms of energy, polluting and perhaps not very effective at breaking down these molecules.

The force of water. The developed reactor operates in four phases, Oxyle points out.. The first is the absorption of these substances in a nanoporous catalyst. After this, vibrations are applied to the water through bubbles, generating turbulence that activates the piezoelectric catalyst (that is, it is a material that generates electrical energy by transforming the mechanical one).

The electrical charges generated, the company continues to explain, generate a reductive and oxidative reaction through hydrated electrons (solvated electrons with the characteristic of being electrically neutral in water) and hydroxyl radicals.

These agents are responsible for breaking down PFAS into minerals and smaller molecules, these non-polluting ones, such as carbon dioxide or water. The fifth and final step is to pour or reuse the water that is already clean of PFAS.

Reducing costs. The company highlights two factors of its water treatment system, in addition to high efficiency. On the one hand, its energy efficiency, as it depends on piezoelectric reactions to generate the chemical reactions that lead to the breakdown of the molecules. The second, for modularity of the reactors created by the company, facilitating the scalability of this technology.

From bubbles to electron beams. Scalability may be important considering the magnitude of this problem: PFAS contaminate both marine waters and rivers. There is still little we know about how these chemicals affect our health, but it is believed that they can affect various aspects of it, from fertility to our chances of developing cancer.

Given the importance of the issue, there are numerous laboratories and companies working to develop solutions that help us get rid of this form of contamination. An example of this is the mechanism based on electron beams proposed by the petrochemical company 3M and Fermilab.

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Image | Sarah Lee